David McInturff

Member for

10 years ·
8 months ·
25 days

Find a Grave ID

47179039

Bio

I was born and raised, worked, and live in northern Virginia. I'm a 70 year old Federal Government retiree with 43 years of service. Almost ten years after its inception, I found this site quite by accident when a co-worker asked me to help him at lunch time take a photograph of a headstone that was overgrown with bushes. After that, I was hooked fulfilling photo requests, primarily at (then) nearby Arlington National Cemetery (ANC).

While I was fulfilling photo requests, I noticed that many of the those buried in ANC did not have Findagrave memorials, so I downloaded the data from ANC Explorer and compared them to those in Findagrave. I was able to add 40,000+ new memorials based on that comparison. Unfortunately, the ANC Explorer information was all that I had for the creation of those memorials, and I'm not able to provide any additional information about those servicemen or their spouses.

Then it occurred to me that this would be a great place (free (thus far)) to document my family tree for all to see, which would be based on the extensive genealogical research that my aunt has been doing for the past 25 to 30 years and that I have continued. This project of linking thousands of memorials is going to take a very long time (if it's at all possible) to complete due to several memorial creators, totally unrelated to my family, who will neither transfer ownership nor respond to SOC (Suggest Other Changes) edits. That is not to say that all memorial creators are like that. Indeed, most are very gracious and totally responsive, and for that, I whole-heartedly thank them.

If I have a memorial for one of your relatives or even someone else whose memorial you're willing to maintain, I'll gladly transfer ownership upon request.

Here is how you request to have a memorial transferred to you using the new site:1. Find and open the memorial you want to maintain.2. Click on SUGGEST EDITS in upper center.3. Click on "Suggest other corrections" in lower center.4. In the message box, type something like "Please transfer this memorial to me (with reason and anything else you want to convey.)"5. Click "Send Message."You should receive a transfer and an e-mail.

I don't understand the reasoning behind many members wanting to hold on to memorials of folks they have no relation to, genetic or otherwise, when there are people willing to maintain them. Findagrave's guidelines are just that, guidelines. The logic behind the beyond-the-two-generation and non-direct-line transfer request guideline from multiple members is specious at best; those requesters would be related and should be able to work out maintenance issues better than the unrelated memorial creator. The following is directed to those who rigidly follow the guidelines: Why are you holding on to these memorials for people to whom you are not related? What are you going to do with them? If you created them a number of years ago, and nobody has made a request to maintain them in all that time, don't you think Findagrave's "reasoning" might not be completely valid? Do you always have the time and enjoy having to act on SOC's requiring additions to the bio section of these memorials (assuming you don't ignore them altogether)?

Regarding members who won't transfer memorials, several years ago, there was a member couple (whose account and display name no longer exist, only a number) who had well over 15,000 memorials, including over 350 memorials for my (McInturff) family members, none of which they were willing to transfer. I had no idea what their problem was, but periodically for the next three and half years, I noticed that family links on some of my McInturff memorials would be gone. The linked memorials (created by them) had been deleted. It was gradual at first. I wrote to them asking them not to delete their memorials, but rather transfer them to me for maintenance. That apparently led to an increase in the rate of deletions. As I discovered a deleted memorial, I would recreate it. I wrote to Findagrave, but by the time they were kicked out, they were down to twelve McInturff memorials (and fewer than 300 total memorials). I had to re-create all of the rest and request new grave photos for each memorial. It was a bit of a nightmare, and one that I hope no one else has to go through.

Regarding duplicate memorials, it's never my intention to create a duplicate on purpose. If you come across a duplicate I that have made, please submit an SAC on the Edit tab of the memorial page and let me know, and please, please, please provide the number of the original memorial. Thank you.

You have my permission to use any of my photos, as long as you include attribution. (Please don't ask, just use them.)

I was born and raised, worked, and live in northern Virginia. I'm a 70 year old Federal Government retiree with 43 years of service. Almost ten years after its inception, I found this site quite by accident when a co-worker asked me to help him at lunch time take a photograph of a headstone that was overgrown with bushes. After that, I was hooked fulfilling photo requests, primarily at (then) nearby Arlington National Cemetery (ANC).

While I was fulfilling photo requests, I noticed that many of the those buried in ANC did not have Findagrave memorials, so I downloaded the data from ANC Explorer and compared them to those in Findagrave. I was able to add 40,000+ new memorials based on that comparison. Unfortunately, the ANC Explorer information was all that I had for the creation of those memorials, and I'm not able to provide any additional information about those servicemen or their spouses.

Then it occurred to me that this would be a great place (free (thus far)) to document my family tree for all to see, which would be based on the extensive genealogical research that my aunt has been doing for the past 25 to 30 years and that I have continued. This project of linking thousands of memorials is going to take a very long time (if it's at all possible) to complete due to several memorial creators, totally unrelated to my family, who will neither transfer ownership nor respond to SOC (Suggest Other Changes) edits. That is not to say that all memorial creators are like that. Indeed, most are very gracious and totally responsive, and for that, I whole-heartedly thank them.

If I have a memorial for one of your relatives or even someone else whose memorial you're willing to maintain, I'll gladly transfer ownership upon request.

Here is how you request to have a memorial transferred to you using the new site:1. Find and open the memorial you want to maintain.2. Click on SUGGEST EDITS in upper center.3. Click on "Suggest other corrections" in lower center.4. In the message box, type something like "Please transfer this memorial to me (with reason and anything else you want to convey.)"5. Click "Send Message."You should receive a transfer and an e-mail.

I don't understand the reasoning behind many members wanting to hold on to memorials of folks they have no relation to, genetic or otherwise, when there are people willing to maintain them. Findagrave's guidelines are just that, guidelines. The logic behind the beyond-the-two-generation and non-direct-line transfer request guideline from multiple members is specious at best; those requesters would be related and should be able to work out maintenance issues better than the unrelated memorial creator. The following is directed to those who rigidly follow the guidelines: Why are you holding on to these memorials for people to whom you are not related? What are you going to do with them? If you created them a number of years ago, and nobody has made a request to maintain them in all that time, don't you think Findagrave's "reasoning" might not be completely valid? Do you always have the time and enjoy having to act on SOC's requiring additions to the bio section of these memorials (assuming you don't ignore them altogether)?

Regarding members who won't transfer memorials, several years ago, there was a member couple (whose account and display name no longer exist, only a number) who had well over 15,000 memorials, including over 350 memorials for my (McInturff) family members, none of which they were willing to transfer. I had no idea what their problem was, but periodically for the next three and half years, I noticed that family links on some of my McInturff memorials would be gone. The linked memorials (created by them) had been deleted. It was gradual at first. I wrote to them asking them not to delete their memorials, but rather transfer them to me for maintenance. That apparently led to an increase in the rate of deletions. As I discovered a deleted memorial, I would recreate it. I wrote to Findagrave, but by the time they were kicked out, they were down to twelve McInturff memorials (and fewer than 300 total memorials). I had to re-create all of the rest and request new grave photos for each memorial. It was a bit of a nightmare, and one that I hope no one else has to go through.

Regarding duplicate memorials, it's never my intention to create a duplicate on purpose. If you come across a duplicate I that have made, please submit an SAC on the Edit tab of the memorial page and let me know, and please, please, please provide the number of the original memorial. Thank you.

You have my permission to use any of my photos, as long as you include attribution. (Please don't ask, just use them.)

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